


Change of Life

by Peggystormborn



Series: Every Time...A Karamel Anthology [30]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, KaraMel, Retirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22294243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggystormborn/pseuds/Peggystormborn
Summary: Kara and Mon-El have been saving the world for hundreds of years, and their family has grown into a powerful force of good across the universe.But at what point is enough...enough?Or...the one where Kara tries to prove to her adult children that she's NOT TOO OLD FOR THIS SHIT.And gets a few surprises along the way...
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Mon-El, Kara Danvers/Mon-El
Series: Every Time...A Karamel Anthology [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1092399
Comments: 31
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay for newbies:
> 
> This is set when Kara and Mon are over 500. 
> 
> They recently got turned into teenagers by Mxyzptlyk. 
> 
> They have 30,000 descendants and lead an organization of heroes that protect the universe.

He's always loved that soft place, at the edge of sleep. The place where his mind is foggy enough that the weights of his life don't burden him. Where there's just the sensation of warmth, of sheets and blankets surrounding him. 

And her. The heat of her body; the comfort of his arms around her; the heaven of her hair tickling his nose; her beautiful, familiar scent. It's a craving answered without having to ask. 

It's home. Just as it was when his children were little, their tiny toes sticking out here and there, their little arms enveloped by his strong biceps. 

But she was always there then, too. Snuggled up with one or two of them like puppies in a heap. With snoring to match. 

Which is why Mon-El wakes with a start, somewhat forlorn, when he finds himself alone this time. 

Angling his head toward the window, he sees the sky is still purple, the yellow sun apparently not quite ready to greet the day, either. He shakes off his drowsiness, throws on a bathrobe over his tee shirt and flannel pants, and hauls himself up to search for her. 

The smell of coffee that hits his nostrils when he opens the bedroom door tells him she hasn't gone far. 

He slides open the back door, and sure enough, he sees her in her nightgown and slippers, cardigan loosely covering her shoulders even though she's certainly not cold. 

"Morning, love," he says as he comes up behind her, wrapping the wings of his robe around his wife along with his arms. He knows the dewy predawn air isn't going to give her a chill, her being who she is, but if he can't be cocooned under a comforter with her this morning, this is the next best thing.

"Morning," Kara sighs, still gazing out at the slowly pinkening horizon. "You get some shut-eye?"

"I guess. How long have you been up?"

"A while. Couldn't sleep."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah...yeah, I just...strange dreams. I think. I can't remember them but...I dunno, I woke up with a weird feeling. Like...there's something I'm missing."

"Like what?"

"If I knew that I probably could have gone back to sleep."

"Sorry, baby. Can I make you some breakfast?"

"Uh, only  _ always _ ."

"Right. Silly me for asking. How about I make you that stuffed French toast you love?"

She rotates in his arms, still under his robe, and beams at him while clutching his sides. "Ooooooh…with the crunchy peanut butter filling in them?" 

"And the strawberry compote on top."

"Mmmmm...yes, please! Ooh, with a side of that leftover fried chicken and gravy. Maybe some pickles to go with."

"Uh...okay. Whatever milady's heart desires," Mon-El chuckles with a shrug, and they head into the kitchen, where the Daxamite proceeds to assemble ingredients and retrieve the necessary cookware for their meal. Kara, sitting at their kitchen table, flips through her holo-tab, perusing the news of the day and checking her inbox for any breaking developments from their superhero headquarters in Washington, where their four children, nine grandchildren, and thousands of their other descendants are currently running the show, manning committees and conducting diplomacy across the galaxy and the multiverse. Not to mention stopping evil in its tracks wherever it's found. 

"Huh," she says, absentmindedly.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing."

"No, I mean literally...there's... _ nothing _ going on. Or, I mean, nothing for  _ us _ to do, anyway. No meetings, no briefings, no decisions to make."

"What about the disarmament pact with Thanagar?"

"Handled."

"The Starhaven-Oan hostilities?"

"Under control."

"What about the cleanup after the earthquake on…"

"...It's done. They…don't need us. For anything."

"...You don't sound happy about that."

"No...no, I am. I mean, it's not like I'm looking for there to be some disaster just so we have something to do, it's just, the kids and everyone…"

"...They don't need us. Any more."

"...For… _ any _ thing…"

"Oh, come on. You're still their mother. No one ever really stops needing their mother."

"You did."

"Well, mine was...an unusual case. Which is why I'm so lucky you happened to have  _ two _ wonderful moms. Both of whom did a lot of making up for my mother's...you know, shortcomings."

"...Do you...miss them?"

"Alura and Eliza? Yeah. Of course I do. I mean, not the same way  _ you _ do, but...absolutely. And honestly, even with all her faults, I miss mine as well. She wasn't what I would have wanted in a mom, but...even  _ she _ had her moments."

"If you say so." 

Mon-El just shrugs, as he tends to do when his pre-Kara existence on Daxam comes up. After his long life with his mate, dedicated to serving the greater good, he doesn't much like to dwell on the life he led in his youth. 

Reading his mood, she hops up and wraps her arms around him from behind. He chuckles and continues flipping their breakfast in the pan. Though he does turn his head to steal a quick smooch. 

They opt to dine out on the deck, as the sun that powers them and keeps them younger than their five centuries lazily makes its way over the horizon. Their breakfast is peaceful and leisurely, as they sip their coffee and joke about everything from which of their many, many offspring take after each of them, to whether the National City Sharks have a shot at the playoffs this year. Or  _ any _ year this decade, since the team's now-lengthy dry spell began in earnest more years ago than they care to recall.

"You know…" Mon-El says at length. "Maybe we should think about taking an extended vacation, finally."

"Vacation?" 

"Yeah, like Clark." 

"Clark's not on vacation. He's on sabbatical."

"What's the difference?"

"...I don't know, sabbatical sounds less like Earth's first superhero is off dicking around the universe somewhere and more like he's on a study abroad or something. But he's coming _back_."

Her husband chuckles amiably. "Well…there's nothing stopping us from taking a ship and cruising around the galaxy, too. Second honeymoon on Sedenach, maybe? Finally see the Rainbow Falls on Bismoll? And don't forget we have a standing invitation to Xanthu, the Trade Council has been angling for an official visit from us for decades."

"If it's official then we're working, so it's not really a vacation, is it?" she snarks. 

"Whatever. Unofficially official, then. Come on, they have the best Caldorean wine in the quadrant." 

"Well, tell you what," she says diplomatically. "Whenever Clark ever comes back from wherever the hell he went…"

"...What do you mean ''whenever'?" Mon-El wonders. "Didn't you see his message?" 

"No, what message?" 

"It was a little garbled but it came through a few days ago. He said he'd be arriving this morning. In fact, I kind of expected him to show up already."

"What, really?" she balks. "And you're just telling me  _ now _ ?!" 

"I thought you knew, love," her husband shrugs. "And he said he had a surprise, too."

" _ What _ surprise?"

But before he can answer, a green glimmer emanates from near the center of their expansive lawn. 

A transporter beam.

Squealing with glee, Kara speeds over to greet her cousin as he pixelates back into being, lunging to hug him from behind. 

In her haste, she suddenly finds herself hugging...someone else. 

"Whoa!" the auburn-haired woman ekes out, addressing the dark-haired Kryptonian who's just appeared alongside her. "Well...you  _ did _ say she was strong…" 

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I, uh, thought you were…" Kara sputters, as the strange woman turns around and extends her hand. 

"...Kal-El. Yes, I gathered." The woman's eyes sparkle with anticipation, and she bites her lip as Kara tentatively holds out her palm in greeting. 

Kara's a bit surprised to feel her arm being shaken rather forcefully, and her eyes widen as she glances back and forth between her new acquaintance and her cousin, who's standing there beaming down at both of them. 

"Uh...Kal?" Kara ventures. "What's...um…"

"Right, sorry," he chuckles with giddy bemusement. "This is Bev-Dal." 

"Bev-Dal?" Mon-El inquires as he approaches. "That almost sounds like…"

"You're Mon-El!" their new friend gasps, releasing Kara's hand and placing her own two on her cheeks in apparent surprise. "Of House Gand!" 

"Uh...yes?" Mon-El's eyebrow quirks upward. 

"I... probably should have been more specific," Clark intercedes. "This is Bev-Dal...of New Daxam."

Kara and Mon-El turn to look at each other, jaws dropping in unison.

"That...certainly explains the handshake…" Kara finally chuckles as her husband's eyes go wide. 

"You're…you're a Daxamite?" Mon-El manages. "I thought...I mean, I  _ didn't _ think…"

"...There were any left?" Bev-Dal finishes. "Well, it's true, after our people scattered, most of them ended up assimilating on various planets across the Galaxy. And over the generations, well, there aren't many of us left now that aren't mostly Almeracians or Euphorians or Braalians or something."

"So...where did  _ you _ come from?" Mon-El wonders. 

"Well, my ancestors were among those who served on your parents' warship. During the chaos that followed the flight from Earth, they escaped in a shuttle and ended up on an uninhabited moon orbiting Rann. But resources were limited there, so eventually they relocated to the planet itself. My parents were part of the refugee group who immigrated and built a community on the outskirts of Rann's capital city."

"So you're…" Mon-El attempts to clarify. 

"A full-blooded daughter of Dax-Am? Yes. And it's a pleasure to finally meet you, your highness. Our people still tell tales of you and your wife's bravery in defeating our oppressors."

Mon-El chuckles awkwardly. "Uh...I, um…thank you. But I don't use that title any more. It's just Mon-El now." 

"...Of course." She curtsies anyway, belying her acknowledgement.

"...Uh, well you must be tired and hungry after your trip. Why don't you come up to the kitchen and my husband here will fix you something to eat?" Kara indicates the stairs back to the main house. 

They head inside, where Mon-El proceeds to fix a small banquet, including another batch of French toast, as well as eggs, bacon, fruit and hash browns. Their new friend, slightly wary at first of all the offerings, soon finds herself shoveling food into her mouth at a pace that surprises even Kara, reigning champion of their family's annual hot dog eating contest (no small feat in this family).

"I'm sorry, I don't normally...uh…" Bev-Dal attempts to explain, with some embarrassment. 

"...It's all right, it's going to take a little time for you to adjust to your powers here," Clark explains to her. "That includes your super appetite."

"Well, I'll do my best to learn to control myself," she smiles at them. "So I don't eat you out of house and home when we visit Earth."

Kara drops her fork with a clatter on her plate, and looks up at her cousin and his new... whatever she is...with shock. She turns to stare at her husband, who's similarly stock still, with a mouth full of fried potatoes mid-chew. He meets her eye, then looks over at his in-law before swallowing heavily. 

"...What...what do you mean when you  _ visit _ Earth?" Kara says slowly, as she eyes the couple before her. Bev is biting her lip nervously, realizing she's already said too much.

Clark, shaking off a distinctly cringey expression, clears his throat and leans forward, elbows on the tabletop. "I...was going to work up to that. Uh...the thing is...Bev and I...well, we're engaged. And after we wed, I'm...I'm going to Rann to be with her. Permanently."

Closing her eyes and exhaling, Kara calmly removes the napkin from her lap and places it on the table. "Clark...can we discuss this...privately?"

"Kara, look, I know what you're going to say, and…"

"Oh,  _ do _ you now?"

"Yes! Okay, I get it. You're going to tell me I'm abandoning my responsibilities here…"

"All right," she crosses her arms over her chest. "Explain to me how that's not  _ exactly _ what you're doing?"

"You know, most people, even Kryptonians, get to retire  _ before _ they get to be half a millennium old."

"We're _not_ most people! And you! You're the one who  _ started _ all this. Earth's first hero, truth and justice and all that stuff…does all that just not  _ matter _ to you any more?"

"Of  _ course _ it does, Kara! Which is why I've been doing just  _ that _ for hundreds of years! And if it were still just me, or even just me and you, then maybe I'd keep on doing it until I dropped dead...whenever the hell  _ that's _ likely to happen. But guess what? It's  _ not _ just us any more. There's tens of  _ thousands _ of us. Mostly thanks to you two. And I'm…I'm  _ tired _ , Kara. I want rest. I want a  _ life _ ...the kind I never got with…" he stops, tears forming in his eyes, before covering his face with his hands. 

Mon-El reaches over and places his hand atop his wife's. Kara looks up at his touch and sees he too now has watery eyes. 

"Excuse me," Clark says, pushing back from the table and rising to exit back out to the deck. 

Kara, with a weary sigh, follows him, while Mon-El nods encouragement and promises to keep Bev-Dal entertained while they clean up after their meal. 

She finds her cousin in the very spot she stood this morning, looking out at the horizon. 

"Clark…I'm sorry. I...I know how difficult things have been for you all these years."

"Not years. Centuries.  _ Centuries _ , Kara. I lost the love of my life three hundred eighty six years ago. And since then I've contented myself with helping others and supporting our family as we've grown into this...tremendous force of good. And I'm proud of everything we've accomplished. The legacy we've left. But I've…I've been  _ so _ lonely…"

"I know, Kal…and I want you to be happy, I do, I just..I don't understand why you can't stay here and be together. It's our home, it's where we belong."

"It's not _her_ home. She has her _own_ family. On Rann."

"But…Kal…without the yellow sun, you'll…"

"...I'll live a mortal life. With her. The kind of life I would have lived on Krypton."

"...for a few decades, sure, but then...then you'll…"

"Die?"

"...Yes."

"Everyone dies, Kara. I've already lived far longer than my body was meant to."

"But...I just...I always thought we'd have each other. No matter what, that you, and me, and Mon-El…"

"...What was it your friend Brainy said about our expected lifespan? Seven hundred years or so?" 

"Right. Which means you could be giving up two whole centuries."

"Which is longer than our whole lives would have been on Krypton, I know. Kara, I understand what I'm doing here. I do. And it's not like I'm gonna die tomorrow. Or never come back, we'll still see each other."

"I...I want to respect your choice here, Kal. But…we've both lost so much. Alex, my human friends, our Earth parents...even my mom. I...I begged her to move to Earth when she started to get old, so we could have more time together. But she…"

"...Her place was on Argo. And yours was here."

"But...we're the only people left that were born on Krypton. We're the carriers of its legacy. I just...without you I…"

"...You have your children, and  _ their _ children. And on and on. And don't forget my son and descendants, too. And Kara...you have something I've  _ never _ had. Not until now."

"What?"

"Mon-El."

"Uh...didn't know you felt that way about my husband."

Her cousin glares at her, unamused. "You  _ know _ how lucky you are, Kara. To have found someone that's  _ like _ you. I mean, I know that wasn't why you fell for him, but still...to have someone to grow old with…that's what  _ I _ want. And if I have to give up a couple hundred years of very slowly turning into an old man, well, I'm okay with that. Can you try and be okay with it, too?"

"I...I don't know, Kal. I'll…I'll try."

He nods, a little grudgingly. "All right, then."

"You...you have to promise to visit. Like, a lot."

He chuckles, his mood finally lifting. "I promise. We'll come here and soak up some yellow sun on the regular." 

She wraps her arms around him, then, looking over his shoulder to see her husband looking fondly upon them, dish rag over one shoulder. 

"Uh...she's asking about dessert," he informs them when they break apart. 

"Seriously?" Kara looks at Mon-El with bemused surprise, before turning her glare on Clark. "She just ate a small mountain of french toast."

"Maybe I'll just, uh, run out to the bakery and pick up some things, huh?" the raven haired Kryptonian says sheepishly, before taking to the sky. 

Kara scoffs at his abrupt departure, before looking back through the glass doors at Bev, who's now in the kitchen chewing on something pink. 

"And…now she's eating my Dar-essa…" Kara monotones, with shock, as Mon-El's eyes go wide, and he turns on his heel and sprints back inside before their new cousin-in-law-to-be can polish off the rest of the beautiful Kryptonian blooms. 

"I'm sorry!" cries a trill voice from inside, as Kara drops her face into her hands and groans. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara is upset, and then things get REALLY weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it's not obvious, Allie, Xander, Zora and John are her kids.

Kara tries very hard, but the next few days are some of the most difficult in recent memory. She finds herself tearing up at odd moments, like when Bev compliments her on her beautiful home or asks her about her children. 

"Is she...okay?" Clark asks Mon-El after Kara goes to bed the second night of their stay. "I mean, I knew she might take this hard, but she seems...you know, yikes."

"Um...I think so," the Daxamite shrugs as he passes his cousin a beer. "I guess it's just a testament to how much she loves you." 

"I suppose. It's just…she reminds me of...you know what, never mind. It's not my place."

"What's not your place?"

"To speculate on Kara's... emotional state."

"Clark...if you have something to say, you may as well say it. Or I'll be up all night wondering."

"I'm sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut. She just…well, she reminds me of how Lois was when she...when she went through, um...her change."

"Change?"

"Please don't make me say it."

"...Are you talking about menopause?" 

"More like trying not to talk about it, but um...yeah."

"Clark, it's fine. We're adults. And we're family. So I don't think she'd mind me telling you that she already went through that a couple hundred years ago."

"Oh. Well, then...could it have to do with that whole ordeal you went through with that Mxy guy?" 

"You mean the ordeal where we got magically turned into teenagers and hung out with a bunch of our long-dead friends for a few days?"

"Unless there's another 5th dimensional weirdo incident I'm not aware of…"

"Uh, well, we did get a little... _hormonal,_ I guess you could say...during that whole thing. _Lot_ of drama. But I've felt fine since we came back, and she hasn't mentioned feeling any different."

"Huh. Maybe I'm just reading too much in, then."

Mon-El smiles at him. "It's sweet how much you two fuss over each other, you know? How you worry about one another so much, even after all this time."

Clark shrugs. "All we had of Krypton in those early days was each other. Until you came along." 

"Me?" Mon-El balks. "But I'm not…"

"You weren't Kryptonian, no, but you had more memories of my home world than I ever did. You understood her like no one else could. You changed her _life,_ Mon-El. And mine, too. If it wasn't for you, and the family you gave her...I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing. I wouldn't even have met Bev, or if I had I probably would have written her off for being Daxamite. I mean, Kara wasn't the only one who inherited some closed-off thinking from our people. That and...you know, stubbornness."

"That could be a House of El trait. Lord knows my daughters both had it."

The two men chuckle at that, at the truth of it. 

"Thank you," Clark says after a silence. 

"For what, putting up with her yelling 'Daxamite' at me for 500 years?" 

"Does she _still_ do that?" 

"Uh...we made a deal around her two hundredth Earth birthday so she's cut back to once or twice a month."

Clark lets out a hearty belly laugh, and then sighs. "No, that's not what the thank you is for."

"What, then?" 

"...For loving her."

A feeling of warmth bubbles up in Mon-El's chest, and a wistful smile spreads across his face. "Well, she makes that easy. And it wasn't like I had much of a choice regardless. She's...she's the kind of woman that stays in your heart forever. I was lucky just to be in her orbit, let alone...you know, getting to build a life with her."

"I get that. But still. I…I've heard you say that loving her was the best thing you've ever done. And you're right. Your love with Kara, it...it didn't just affect _our_ lives, it...it changed the _world._ Honestly, Mon-El, I think Rao meant you two for each other."

Mon-El feels the emotion welling inside him, and leans forward to embrace the other Kryptonian in his life. 

"So…" Clark says, more than a little choked up himself, when he pulls his strong arms away. "Tell me a bit about wooing Daxamite women. It's been a few hundred years since I dated at all, and...she's, uh, a _little_ different than the Earth women of my acquaintance. That's...not a complaint. It's just, uh...slightly intimidating...you know, here and there."

Mon-El blinks a few times at his cousin-in-law, face blank, before bursting into peals of laughter, as Clark turns beet red, stifling a smile, and has another sip of his beer.

********

"What in Rao's name _is_ it?" Xander shakes his head with bafflement as he and his siblings float in front of their large holo-screen in their Central Command. 

"We're not sure…exactly. But it's getting bigger," his twin sister Zora replies. 

"According to our scans, it's just...water," John shrugs with some bafflement. 

"Just water doesn't spontaneously form into a giant mountain in the middle of the ocean," Allie notes. "How big is it now?"

"Well, it's not quite a mountain," Xander explains. "But it's larger than a football stadium." 

"Big enough that if it suddenly collapses it could do some serious damage to…" Zora worries.

"...National City…" Allie finishes. "It's right near the mouth of the bay."

"No worries, kids! I've got this!" a voice booms through their comms. 

"Mom?!" John says, surprised. "I thought you were busy with Clark this morning."

"He and his...lady friend or whatever...just left. So no worries, your Dad and I can handle this."

Allie rolls her eyes and turns to her brothers and sister, who all share the same look of mild exasperation and annoyance. "Mom, you don't have to deal with this, we're on top of it. And I know you were kind of upset about him going, so…"

"...It's fine, sweetie. You're all thousands of miles away in Washington, and your father and I are right here. And I need to take my mind off of things anyway. So don't worry. We'll take care of it."

"Well, what are you going to do?" Xander wonders. 

"Freeze it and haul it out to sea, what else?" Kara breezily answers. 

"But Mom, we don't even know…" John starts. 

"I'll call you in a bit when it's done, guys!" Kara shouts through the comms, before switching them off. 

When she's gone, her children look at each other and issue a collective disgruntled sigh. 

"I thought you were gonna talk to her, Allie," Xander says.

"Why does it always have to be _me_?!" his sister complains.

"I dunno, you're the oldest," he shrugs.

"That's not _my_ fault!" 

********

Kara presses both her hands forward, fingers intertwined, and cracks her knuckles. "Okay, so once I freeze it, we'll push it out a hundred miles or so, then I'll crack it apart and hopefully it'll just…melt or whatever."

"Then what?" her husband asks as he floats beside her, looking down on a massive watery mound rising about as high as the DEO building. Or it would, if the DEO still existed. 

"Then...we go home and you make me something with chocolate in it?"

"No, I mean don't you think we should at least take a sample? Of the _whatever_ this is? So we can maybe figure out why this is happening?"

"Right, sure," she nods. " _Then_ chocolate." She flashes him her sunniest smile, then swoops down and commences with blowing cold air around the base of the bulge. Mon-El watches, first with his normal feeling of bemused pride--the one he always gets while observing her at work. But after a few minutes, he starts noticing that her puffs seem to be getting shorter and less powerful as she rounds to the far side of the thing. Alarmed, he swoops down towards her. And none too soon, as he sees her final breath sputter out, her golden head drooping to one side as she begins to plummet toward the sea. 

"Kara!" he screams as he picks up speed, scooping her up in his arms just before she hits the surface. "Baby? Baby, I've got you. Wake up. Wake _up_!"

She doesn't answer, her hair obscuring her eyes. He brushes her locks back, gazing at her beautiful, if momentarily pale face. She's breathing, at least, if shallowly. 

At length, her eyelids bat open, with obvious effort. 

"Kara! Honey, are you okay?" he asks, still panicked. 

"Yeah...yeah, just…take me home, please."

********

"Guys, I'm fine, really," she assures her brood as her four not-so-youngsters all hover around, figuratively this time, bringing her pillows and blankets as her youngest son John checks her vitals. 

"I wish you'd let us take you to the HQ medbay," Zora says. "We need to do a full workup."

"I'm not flying all the way across the country." 

"Of course not. Dad or one of us can carry you," John says. Mon-El, who's been sitting silently holding her hand, nods along. 

"Uh, no. I don't think so." Kara shakes her head. "Look I don't need all this fuss. I just fainted. That's all."

"Oh, _that's_ all?" John's brother Xander scoffs. "Mom, your super lungs conked out. This is _serious."_

"Look, it was just a fluke. I'll take it a little easier next time, sound good?"

" _Next_ time?" Zora groans. "Mom, for Rao's sake. There's thousands of people with the same powers as you who could have taken that thing on. You didn't even wait for backup."

"I'm perfectly capable of freezing water, honey. I've been doing this a lot longer than you all, don't forget."

"Yeah, well, maybe _that's_ the problem," Allie says with a tinge of coldness.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Kara crinkles at her. 

Allie, standing just behind the rest of the small throng of people crowded around, glares at her mother, "It means it's time to start thinking about retirement." 

Kara stares agape at her daughter, tilting her head to the side slightly. "I am _Supergirl_ . It's not a job, it's who I _am_."

"I thought Supergirl was what you could _do_ , and _Kara_ was who you are?" Allie clearly takes some pleasure in throwing her mother's own words back in her face, as she stands there smugly with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I _help_ people, _Alura_." The whole family winces at their matriarch's use of Allie's proper name. "I'm not going to stop doing that just because my lungs are...you know…"

"Not what they used to be?" Xander suggests, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm sorry, are you implying that my cold breath is on the fritz because I'm getting _old_?!"

"Uh...I'm not _not_ implying it…"

"Do you _all_ think this?" she looks at her children with incredulity. 

"...It's not really about your _age_ , Mom." John tries some diplomacy. "But...you two have been in charge for hundreds of years. Don't you think maybe it's _our_ turn to drive the car?"

Kara lets out a huff, then turns from all of them to stare out the window, as her children exchange anxious glances.

"Baby?" Mon-El finally says, concern growing as he hears her emit a teary sniffle. 

"I just want to be alone for a bit," she finally croaks, lying down on her mound of pillows.

Her sons and daughters look at each other guiltily and silently comply, shuffling out the door all in a row, just like they did when they were little. 

Mon-El kisses her on the temple, and moves to depart as well. But she grabs his hand to stop him. 

"Not you," she practically squeaks. "You stay. Tell me a joke or something."

"Uh...okay…" he lies down next to her and pulls her into his arms, looking up at the ceiling as he ponders her request. "Um...knock, knock…" 

"Seriously?" she side-eyes him. 

"I'm sorry, it's what I got on short notice."

She sighs heavily. "Fine. Who's there…"

"Interrupting cow…"

Kara rolls her eyes, having heard this same bit over and over through many generations of entertaining her numerous tiny offspring. She grumpily sing-songs her response. "Interrupting cow wh…"

"...MOO!"

She looks back at his hopeful face and chuckles despite herself. Rolling over back toward the window, she pulls his arm around her. 

"Do you think we're getting too old for this?"

"I dunno, Murtaugh, are we?" 

"What…?" She looks over her shoulder at him. "Oh...right, from that movie. Ha, ha. Cute."

He pulls her closer and presses his chin to her shoulder. "Look, love…in all my hundreds of years, there's never been anything I believed in more than you. I want you to take care of yourself, obviously, but I definitely don't think you've outlived your usefulness, either."

Kara takes a deep breath, and nods decisively. "You're right. And you know what we're going to do?"

Mon-El lifts his head, glancing at her with growing wariness. "What?"

"We're going to solve the case of the mysterious water mountain."

He exhales heavily. "Okay, love."

********

"...Wow," he says, eyes wide and holo-tab slipping from his grasp onto the bed, as she emerges from their bathroom. 

"What do you think?" Kara asks her Daxamite husband, hands roaming down along her sides over the smooth surface of her outfit.

"It's...shiny. Is it supposed to be that shiny?"

"Until it's activated, yes."

"Well, if nothing else you could use it as a Halloween costume. You know, if you wanted to go as a disco ball."

"Two disco balls. Here." She tosses him a matching form-fitting suit, covered in tiny reflective panels. 

"...You're serious…" It's not a question. 

"Yes I am. Come on, we'll be in and out in minutes. They'll never know we were there."

"You want to break into our own headquarters. That we built ourselves. Where we have unfettered access because we've literally been running the place for hundreds of years," he deadpans.

"Which is why it'll be super easy!" she says gleefully, biting her bottom lip as she smiles.

"This doesn't feel kinda...wrong to you?"

Her face falls. "You know, sometimes I regret turning you to the light side of the force."

"I just don't understand why we can't ask the kids for a sample of that...thing."

"Well, for one thing, they think I'm resting and taking it easy." 

He cocks his head to one side, giving her a rather pointed look. "You know, I happen to have an opinion on that subject, too, if you want to hear it."

She shrugs amiably. "Later. Anyway, and for another thing, I don't want to deal with them derailing my investigation. Which they definitely will if they know I'm doing one."

"Okay, Veronica Mars," he sighs, with resignation. "So what's the plan?"

"Uh...don't call me that, it's been almost 500 years and I'm still not over how that show ended."

"Noted. So...?"

She shrugs with a smug expression. "Easy peasy. We walk right in the front door."

He rubs the bridge of his nose, resigning himself to the forthcoming nonsense. "Okay, but one condition: I'm your ride there and back. Taking it easy, remember?"

The staring match that ensues goes on for the better part of a minute, but finally Kara relents. "Fine," she rolls her eyes. "Now go sparkle-suit up."

********

Things go pretty smoothly at first. They approach the compound from the air, activating their matching stealth suits well before they reach visual range. Mon-El can't help but be impressed as the reflective panels disappear, along with his entire body.

"So this is Winn's design?" Mon-El asks. 

"Yeah, but he never bothered to make them because super speed usually does the trick for helping us go sight unseen."

"Unless everyone in the building is just as fast, you mean?"

"I'm still the fastest." 

"Only at eating hot dogs."

Kara scoffs and stops, hands on her hips, before realizing he's now quite a ways ahead of her--not to mention invisible--and attempting to prove her words by whizzing towards him. 

"Sorry, I literally couldn't see you," he says when she catches up. "Maybe we should hold hands. Since we're going to have to go radio silent to avoid all the super ears in a minute."

"Good idea." He extends his arm, fumbling with hers for a moment before their fingers intertwine.

They fly in the front door of their stone fortress on the Potomac, hovering above the heads of a scattering of their descendants, who are milling about en route to various assignments. Because it's the night shift, they're on a skeleton crew, so the crowd is limited. They silently float down to the lower level and down a long hallway, where Allie's lab is located. Access is restricted, so Kara applies her thumbprint and the latch slides open. 

Knowing her daughter and her key staff are home in bed, Kara is unsurprised to find the room empty. She pulls down her mask and becomes a floating head bobbing in midair. 

"All right, you grab the sample from the freezer, and I'll pull up whatever results they have so far," Kara says. Her husband nods, before realizing she has no way of understanding his acknowledgement.

"Got it," he confirms. 

"Wait…crap…hide!" she whispers, a little panicked, as she moves to press herself against the ceiling. Mon-El quickly mimics her, as they do their best to blend into the plaster. 

"Mask!" he notes at the last second, as Kara pulls the thing back over her face. They hear the door whoosh open, and two of their children walk into the room. 

"Al, this really could have waited until morning," John grouses, still shaking the sleep from his eyes. 

"Oh come on, it's a whole new kind of anomaly we've never seen before!" Allie says with more than a little excitement. "And _I'm_ the one that gets to study it!"

"But why did you need _me_ for this?"

"What? You're the only one of us on site."

"I was sleeping in the on call room," he groans. 

"Oh, get some yellow sun lamp time, you big baby."

John sighs and flops down in the chair. "Fine, I'm up. What, then?"

"Okay, so we know the what...and the how…" Allie says as she leans against the lab table, clad in her standard white coat. 

"How...what?" John cocks his head to one side, confused. 

"What the water mountain is and how it formed."

"Okay…"

Allie rolls her eyes. "Specifically, it _is_ water, just regular old salt water, but with a key difference: it generates its own gravitational field."

"I mean...doesn't _all_ matter do that?"

"Not like _this_ it doesn't. Watch." She turns to open the freezer, retrieving what appears to be a tray of ice chunks in various sizes. 

"Ooh...fancy," he snarks. "Grab the blender, we can make some margaritas."

Allie rolls her eyes, placing it on the table. "You get more like Xander every century. Now just…give me a sec." She gives a quick zap to the metal tray with her heat vision, just enough to warm it up. The ice chunks immediately begin to sweat, and melt, and trickle rapidly towards the center of the sheet, where the liquid forms into a small blob, which grows larger as the pieces liquefy. Before long, it's a miniature version of the giant thing they saw near the bay.

"How...why is it _doing_ that?" Xander wonders, sitting forward in his chair.

"It's been imbued with gravitational energy...somehow."

"Well, it's obviously not a natural phenomenon, right?"

"No. It has a very specific residual energy signature, which seems to persist on anything it comes into contact with, at least for some period of time. So I mapped the city to see if there were any other traces of it anywhere."

"I'm assuming you found some?"

"Not shockingly, LCorp."

John sighs heavily. "Well...unless another one of those things pops up, it isn't urgent. So I'm gonna go back to sleep, okay? We'll regroup with Zora and Xander tomorrow and figure out how to approach Sam to see what's going on."

"I'll talk to him," Allie avers. "He's my great great great grandson, after all."

"No, we agreed, if there's no emergency then we all consult each other before moving forward on stuff like this. I know you think of Luthor-related issues as your side of the family, but…"

"It _is_ my side. I'm the one whose husband ran LCorp after Lena died, and I've weighed in every time it's been passed down from Luthor to Luthor since then. And Sam...well, he's a good kid."

"Kid? He may be a century and change younger than us, but he sure ain't a kid."

"You know what I mean."

"Allie, we deal with this stuff _together._ That was the agreement. You promised things would be different from Mom's my-way-or-the-highway routine."

Mon-El, back still flat against the ceiling, cringes slightly, hoping Kara doesn't blow her top at the remark and give away their position.

Allie huffs a sigh, then puts her hands up in defeat. "Okay, you're right. We'll huddle up when they get here tomorrow and figure out a strategy."

"Great. Just...not too early, okay? I'd really like to get a few hours of shut-eye in before dealing with this."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll pencil something in for midmorning." She stretches, feeling her years nearly as much as their parents. 

"Just...don't let Mom find out about this, deal? She'll steamroll right over us." He rises from the chair and starts ushering her to the door.

"What, do you think I'm an idiot?"

"...Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Jeez, you really _are_ turning into Xander."

"What can I say? I'm sassy when I'm tired…" 

They step through, and Mon-El breathes a sigh of relief when the lock clicks shut behind them. "Baby, uh...are you…"

"Come on," Kara says with determination (and a slight growl). 

"Where are we going?" he wonders. 

"Where do you think? LCorp."

"Of course we are…" he groans. 

********

"Great Mother Kara!" Sam Luthor nearly spits out his coffee at the sight of his ancestor appearing out of nowhere alongside his 33rd floor balcony at the break of dawn. "And Great Father Mon-El! Uh...good morning…"

"Hi, Sam," the Kryptonian says warmly. "It's good to see you."

Sam, in the prime of middle age (that being a relative concept for those graced with the same longevity as their Kryptonian and Daxamite forbears) with his sandy hair still somewhat disheveled, looks down at his fuzzy slippers and bathrobe, scrambled eggs growing cold on his plate as he sets aside his holo-tab. "Uh...to what do I owe this honor?" he says with as much dignity as he can muster.

"We're doing an investigation, and we need your help," Kara smiles at her progeny. "Can you accompany us to LCorp?"

"Of course, uh...just let me get changed, perhaps?" he super-speeds into a suit and tie and returns a literal second later, floating over the railing to join his ancestors. "Right this way, shall we?" 

They arrive at the company's basement lab moments later, explaining along the way the energy signature and the connection they've established to the family's long-standing corporate affiliate. 

"So...do you think you can maybe run an analysis to…" Kara starts to inquire. 

"I don't need to. Based on your description, and the whole…giant water blob situation, I'm fairly certain I know what's happening. It sounds very similar to some experimental technology we've developed, which was meant to be a sort of rudimentary form of...well…"

"What?"

"...Terraforming. The device we designed was meant to increase gravitational energy in minerals, causing them to pull together. But theoretically it could be modified for use with water molecules." 

"To what end? Planet building?" Kara wondered. She looked at Mon-El with some concern. This type of device existed in the 31st century, but was heavily restricted due to its weaponizability. And after all, Kara and Mon-El themselves had thwarted an attempt by Reign to remake Earth as a new Krypton. 

"It's not powerful enough to do anything like that," he explains. "It just temporarily appropriates limited amounts of the Earth's existing gravitational field."

"If you just want to make new rock, why not just use the Fortress crystals?" Mon-El wonders. 

"Those are unpredictable, and the structure they create is...well, it's great for our family's purposes, but, you know, not everyone wants to live in something that looks like a giant porcupine."

"So what's the purpose of this, then, real estate?" Kara asks pointedly. 

Sam shrinks back slightly. "That was...one of the applications we considered, yes. But if we can figure out how to use it right, it could also save homes in low-lying floodplains. Create temporary barriers from hurricanes and tidal waves. Maybe even mitigate earthquakes by modifying tectonic plates. The possibilities are endless, really."

Kara looks at her offspring, unconvinced. "I don't know, Sam. This already feels like dangerous…you know..."

"...ground?" he replies with a cringe.

"I was trying to think of some other word," Kara sighs. "But yes. I mean, so far it's just been one incident, but if this tech is out there now, it's potentially dangerous." 

"This doesn't explain why it might have generated a huge bulge of water," Mon-El attempts to get them all back on track. 

" _That_ I don't know," Sam shrugs. "The only prototype we have is right...here..." He taps out a code onto a nearby holographic display, causing a cabinet on the other side of the lab to whoosh open, revealing...an empty shelf.

"That's...not good…" Sam closes his eyes and rubs his temples. 

Kara and Mon-El let out a simultaneous exasperated sigh. "Who could have taken it, Sam?" the Kryptonian asks.

"Uh...well, says here the last person to access it was... huh…"

"What?" 

"Maria...one of my lab techs…"

"Where is she now?" 

"She was scheduled to be on leave this week." 

"She's not on leave…" they hear a voice from behind them, and turn to see a petite young woman in a lab coat anxiously holding up a small holo-screen. "She's...she's gone…"

"Gone? Where?" Sam's eyebrows knit together as he examines the message Maria has apparently left behind for her coworkers.

"Home," the young woman explains. 

"What do you mean, to her apartment?" Sam wonders. 

"No…her...her _home_ home…"

"Can you please be more specific?" the man groans with frustration. 

"She...she didn't want people to know, but...she told me once, at happy hour. That she wasn't, um, _from_ here."

Sam looks at Kara and Mon-El, shrugging with confusion. "So, what? There's plenty of people with alien ancestry here, including me."

"She's not an alien, she's from Earth, just...not…um..."

"Spit it out, please!" Sam finally snaps. 

"She's Lemurian!" the woman squeaks. "Like I said, she... told me not to tell anyone."

"What?" Kara's eyes bug out. "Lemurians and Atlanteans are supposed to…"

"...Get a visa when they want to visit or work above the surface," Mon-El finishes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "How many hours did we spend hammering out that damn treaty with them?" 

"If they have this thing…" Kara closes her eyes. 

"They'll see it as a weapon," Mon-El finishes. "And a violation of the peace."

"Guess we'll need our wet supersuits and rebreathers," Kara sighs. "Cause we're going to Lemuria."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so since Atlantis is in the, you know, Atlantic ocean, and National City is on the west coast, so... Lemuria. It's not in the comics but there's real world mythology, so I think it works.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Mon take a little trip to the big blue.

"Don't you think we should at least mention this to the kids?" Mon-El suggests.

"I sent them a delayed-delivery message. By the time they get it, we'll be twenty thousand leagues under."

"What the hell is a league anyway?"

"Oh, who knows. Come on," Kara, helmet covering her face, picks up speed as they zoom above the watery blue canvas below, before crashing into the waves and quickly diving downward. Unbidden, her former mentor's long-ago words spring to mind: 

"In order to live, we must keep daring--keep diving." 

She wonders, now, so many years after losing the woman whose approval once meant so much to her--would the indomitable Catherine Grant be impressed by all Kara's built? Would she think, as the kids do, that Kara has overstayed her welcome as leader of Earth's heroes? Or would she raise a glass to her?

_At least I've made my own choices,_ Kara thinks. _Though they've varied in terms of their daringness, I suppose._

The sunlight fades and fades, and the quiet darkness envelops them. 

Kara hears a noise...a fluttering sound of sorts, and turns around with some panic. It's not the first time she's been this far underwater, but the recollections of her first trip alone through utter blackness always spring to mind at times like these. 

But Mon-El is there, slipping his glove into hers as they continue their descent to the sea floor. He looks over with his adorable, reassuring smile, though it's barely visible through the mask covering his face. 

She listens again for the noise...the fluttery one, but now all she can hear is her own pounding heart slowing. And her husband's, reassuring with its steady cadence. 

_Huh…a fish must have swum away or something..._

Finally, brightness begins to creep back in along the undersea horizon. Bioluminescent creatures and vibrant lighting showing the silhouette of the undersea cityscape.

"Here we are," she says through her comms. "We're nearing the bridge, keep a wary eye."

Mon-El turns and nods. Lemuria is a peaceful kingdom, for the most part, codified in the Land-Sea Accord that Kara and Mon-El arbitrated themselves. Lemuria had broken from Atlantis centuries ago, its first settlers in fact refugees from some dark years of Atlantean rule. The tension between the two undersea nations was not, in fact, unlike the cultural she political schism between Krypton and Daxam that clouded their own interactions in the early days of the couple's own acquaintance. 

It had taken much work, and threat of war, but eventually an agreement was stuck that kept peace between the two kingdoms and the land. And a good thing too, because no one in the Danvers clan relished the idea of being in the middle--both literally and figuratively--of a conflict between rival tribes of fish people. 

"Halt!" A sentry approaches, with more on his tail, all brandishing staff weapons. "What business do you have here, landsiders?"

"We hold diplomatic immunity, and we wish to speak with your Queen," Kara says with authority, hands up in the total absence of air. 

"It's the Kryptonian and the Daxamite," another guard acknowledges. "See them to the palace."

Their escorts walk them down the bridge, into the main city concourse, and to the palace gates, where they are handed off to a duo of royal footsoldiers. 

"It certainly took you long enough," Queen Cora stares them down from her high-backed seat as they enter the throne room, bright red hair draped over her shoulders, moving gently in the current. "I began to despair of you ever arriving after our...demonstration." She is flanked by a younger woman Kara can only assume is the missing laboratory technician. 

"I take it Maria…"

The monarch interrupts. "...Her name is Mera, descendant of the Queen of old, for whom she is named. But we thought 'Maria' might help her...blend."

"...She served as your spy," Kara states. "At LCorp."

"She is my _daughter_. She holds a place of honor here, which you would do well to remember."

"We mean no disrespect, your majesty," Mon-El attempts. He's always been slightly more level headed at times like these, employing his own royal upbringing.

"If that be the case, then I'm sure you can easily explain this," she snaps her fingers and two servants enter, with what looks to be a large box attached to a litter, with a control panel on the side. The terraforming apparatus.

"Queen Cora, we can understand you would see this as a weapon," Kara ventures.

"It _is_ a weapon. And now it is _our_ weapon, which as you have seen we can wield as we will. The land has violated our agreement, and will face the consequences."

"The treaty also prohibited espionage and land incursions," Kara tries to keep calm, despite the frustration bubbling up within her. "And this... _device_ was not developed in bad faith…" 

"Faith?!" Cora scoffs. "You speak to me of faith, yet you keep none. You take as a given our oceans are yours to do with what you will. To pollute, to traverse, and now, to ruin by taking more land for yourselves."

"That was not our intent, your Highness," Mon-El attempts. "The technology was meant for natural disaster mitigation…"

"Lies!" The younger woman, Mera apparently, interrupts. "The LCorp board had grand plans for making islands, and new coastal property."

"Damn it, Sam…" Kara and Mon-El both mutter under their breath. 

"We would _never_ have let that happen," Kara tries to reassure, stepping forward, only to be greeted by an array of spears in her face. She raises her hands in front of her, hoping to calm the situation. "I apologize, you're right, we've...often treated the ocean as an afterthought. And my family…we haven't paid enough attention to what's been happening under our nose. We propose an amendment to the treaty...to ensure future inventions are reviewed for impact on the sea."

"Well…that's more than I expected." The Queen concedes. "We agree on principle, with one caveat. We will retain possession of this...device, as you call it."

"Your majesty, we cannot allow…" Kara begins, with difficulty, as a sudden feeling of lightheadedness comes upon her. "We...we have to…" Mon-El looks over at her, seeing through her mask how her eyes are rolling back in her head, and begins to panic. 

He speeds to catch her, though her fall is slower than normal thanks to their watery location. 

"Help!" is the last thing she hears before she passes out. "Her rebreather...she…HELP!"

Darkness closes in around her. 

********

She opens her eyes to find herself lying on a table in a dry dressing gown, the room around her filled with air. They're still in the palace, but thankfully the room has been designed to accommodate air-breathers like themselves.

She sees her husband next to her. "M...Mon-El?"

"I'm here." He squeezes her hand tighter, sitting on a stool, sans helmet but still in his wetsuit. 

"What happened?" 

"You, uh, you passed out again, love," he bites his lip slightly, awaiting her reaction.

"You should not have come yourself," a voice tsks, from the other side of the room. "You have many others under your charge who might have taken this on for you."

Kara looks up to see the Queen's dark eyes staring her down, a contrast to her vibrantly colored hair.

"Your Highness, I…you...uh..." she stammers, surprised at the presence of this imposing, yet somehow motherly figure watching over her.

"...I...forgive me for my tone earlier. My people...well they have certain expectations of their ruler, as I'm sure you can understand…" the Lumerian approaches, taking Kara's free hand and patting it gently.

"I...um...thank you…" 

"And for what it's worth, I feel confident we can work out an agreement for use of the LCorp device. So long as we work collaboratively. I suppose we will have to involve Atlantis as well," she sighs regretfully, shaking her head. "Their King is...a bit of a dry blanket…"

Kara stifles a chuckle, and sees her husband doing the same. 

"But I do insist that you send one of your sons or daughters next time, or grandchildren," the woman continues, as Mon-El nods along in eager agreement. 

_Oh, boy. Not this one, too..._

"Your Majesty, I am perfectly capable of…"

"...You put yourself in danger coming here."

"We have immunity...I didn't think…"

The Queen looks at Kara with some shock. "Of course, my people would never do violence unprovoked, certainly not to _you_ of all people."

"Then what…"

The Queen rolls her eyes dramatically. "Oh, landsiders. Always rushing in when you should be using caution. _You_ are in no condition to be this far underwater with only a rebreather. I will command a ship to escort you back to the surface, and you will send one of your children to represent you as we amend the Accord. Understood?"

She releases Kara's hand and turns to exit the room, shaking her head gently. Kara, for her part, stares blankly at her departing form, with confusion.

"Honestly, venturing all the way down _here_ when you're with _child_. I ought to hold you in contempt of the treaty just for _that_."

Kara's eyes go wide and she bolts upright. "WHAT?!" she exclaims loudly. "But...no, I'm not…" 

The Queen stops in her tracks, and turns slowly on her heel. "You...you didn't know?" She stares at Kara with utter bafflement. Kara looks at Mon-El, whose chin has more or less hit the floor, his eyes wide as saucers. 

"No, no, no...that's not possible." She waves her hands in front of her dismissively. "I stopped having children a _very_ long time ago, I can't even…I'm long past the time in my life when I was able to...and it's...it's just…I'm sorry, but you're mistaken."

The woman takes her hand again, with calm reassurance. "Kara Zor-El, I heard the heartbeat clear as day before you even entered the palace. _All_ of my people did. We echolocate, like many of our finned brethren. There is no question. Do your...super ears no longer sense such things?"

"I mean, I heard a little fluttering when I went underwater, but that couldn't possibly be…"

"It could. It _is._ "

"But I...I haven't...I _can't..._ any more…I'm too old…" she deflates at her own words. After all, she's spent the last few days trying her damnedest to prove just the opposite. 

"Oh, Rao," Mon-El pipes in, alarm bells going off in his head. "Mxyzptlyk…"

"I hope you're not suggesting _that_ guy impregnated me…" she side-eyes him. Then, after a beat, with a look of abject horror, "Oh, God...you're not, _are_ you?!"

"...NO," he says emphatically, "but he turned us young again. We were teenagers, for days...and we, um…you know, got a little...frisky…"

Kara's eyes go wide. "Oh...oh RAO!" 

The Queen smiles knowingly. "I'll...leave you two to...discuss things…"

As soon as she leaves, Kara looks at Mon-El, both of them gulping in unison. "Is it...do you think it's really…" Kara starts. 

"It would...explain a lot of things. Your passing out, your sleeplessness, your, uh... emotional state…"

"What _about_ my emotional state?!" She suddenly turns on him, feeling her eyes start to go red with heat as he shrinks back from her. 

After a moment, she finally pulls it together, and inhales deeply. "Okay...point taken…"

He nods sheepishly. "Your, uh...recent affinity for odd food pairings…"

"...And the fluttering. I guess...I guess my ears just can't pick out fainter sounds like they used to."

"So...what do you want to do?" He asks her. "I mean, it's your choice…"

"What, like I'm going to get a kryptonite abortion?" she snarks. 

"That's not funny," he scolds. 

"No...I know…it's just...oh, my God…the thought of...going through this all over again…"

"I know...it's certainly daunting."

"We're five hundred. I never imagined we'd be starting from scratch at this age."

"Me neither."

"Mon-El...do...do _you_ not want to?"

He looks at her, on the edge of offended. "Me? Kara, being the father of your children was the _greatest_ gift of my very long life. Of _course_ I want this child."

She feels herself welling up. "Then...congrats, new old daddy…" 

He feels tears begin to spill down his cheeks, but cups her face and kisses her hard. 

Then his face falls slightly. "Kara, in light of this, I think we need to talk seriously about…"

"...We're retiring. The Queen is right. I can't keep doing this. I've been kidding myself, and...this...you, my family, you're all _far_ more important than my pride."

"Oh, thank Rao…" he lets out the breath he's been holding. "I was...not looking forward to fighting you on that." 

She chuckles at him, and leans over to peck him on the lips. "Shame. I don't mind a good tussle with you once in a while."

"That's what got us _into_ this mess…" he deadpans.

********

A few weeks later, they sit peacefully, back on their deck, watching the sun set over the horizon. And enjoying a playful back-and-forth over their near-future plans. 

"...We only have about 6 months before we have to get back here. I don't want to be gallivanting around the universe in my third trimester," Kara warns.

"Wholeheartedly agree. But that still leaves plenty of time for a babymoon. So how about Sedenach first, then Bismoll, then Xanthu? We'll do the whole tour."

"What was that you said about Caldorean wine?" she smiles wryly.

"No wine for you, missy."

She pouts at that. "Oh. Right. Damn it." 

"I, uh...I thought of a name. If you like it," he ventures. 

"Really? What?"

"Pax. It...it means peace in Latin, and in Kryptonese, as you of course know, it means…"

"...A gift from Rao…" she says with awe. "It's...just perfect, love. Girl or boy."

"Well, with thousands of kids already named after everyone who's ever been part of our family, I thought it might be time for something original. And...I think it's a boy. Not that I'm not thrilled either way. But...the heartbeat…I can hear it now, it sounds like…"

"...Like Xander's and John's did."

"Exactly." He smiles broadly at her. "A little slower than the girls."

Just then, they see a familiar green sparkle in the back corner of their yard. Confused, they glance at each other before turning their attention to the two familiar individuals emerging from the fading light. 

"Hey, cous…" Clark grins at them, as he takes the hand of his wife-to-be. 

"Hey!" Kara greets him. "What are you doing back so soon?"

"Uh, well...we have some news. We might be spending a bit more time here on Earth than we thought. Because, uh...well, remember how Bev here was eating everything in sight when we were here last? Turns out it, uh, wasn't just her being new to her powers. And, gosh…this is probably going to come as a bit of a shock, especially considering my age and all, but…well, she's sort of eating for..."

Kara and Mon-El can't keep their glee in any more, and burst into twin cascades of belly laughs. 

"Um...guys?" Clark's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Am I, uh, missing something?"

"Congratulations, you two," Kara says when she gets her giggles under control. "This calls for a _very_ big celebratory meal."

"They don't know the _half_ of it," her husband practically chokes on the remains of his laughing fit, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. 

"Come on, Clark," Kara ushers him and Bev-Dal into the house, her hand on his shoulder. "You're gonna want to sit down for this one. Just, uh, please keep your fiancé away from my potted plants, will you?"


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I haven't been able to work on my stuff much, the kids and work seem to just sap all my time and energy. But here's a little epilogue to my last story, since a lot of people had good questions about how the rest of the family would react to the news. 
> 
> So here you go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day of Truth is a real thing from comics canon, so I'm borrowing.

Epilogue

"Day of Truth?" Xander says, pointing to the message on his holo-tab as he approaches his twin sister in the hallway that goes to their shared office. "Big to-do at Mom and Dad's this weekend?"

"Yeah, I was just coming to find you to ask about that," Zora replies. 

"I mean...why now?"

"I have no idea. I thought we all kinda gave up on celebrating that after the grandkids got too old for it."

"I know, right? It was never my favorite holiday, anyway."

"Really? You always seemed to jump at the chance for an excuse to tell everyone what you really thought of them."

"That's only because I wanted to say it first. The stuff you all said back was always WAY worse."

"Well that's what you get for being the obnoxious kid in the house."

Xander raises an eyebrow at his sister, but doesn't bother to argue. 

"Anyway, whatever," Zora eye-rolls. "Are you gonna go?"

"Yeah, obviously. I've been dying to tell Dad he needs to start trimming his ear hair." 

"Oh, for Rao's sake…"

********

They all show up at the appointed hour, boxes of candy in hand per their family tradition. Nana Alura had always said it was good to take the sweet with the sour, after all. And Day of Truth could get a little sour at times. 

Though for the most part, it was meant to be a lesson about honesty, sprinkled with some fun. 

The kids had always grumbled about the irony growing up, since their family situation was ever-clouded by secrecy and falsehood. 

But, since they haven't done this in hundreds of years, and since their family has for ages now been out and proud about their identity, the now-adult Daxatonians find themselves getting just a little excited about resurrecting this old family ritual. They pile into the large family kitchen, ready to help with cooking and decorating, just as they did when they were children.

Kara greets them warmly at the door, hugging them all in turn. 

"Where's Dad?" Xander asks, taking the liberty of kicking off his boots and leaving them in a heap by the front door, just as he did when he was twelve. Much to his siblings' collective annoyance. Though Kara, for her part, doesn't seem particularly bothered. 

"Oh, uh...he and Clark went to get the cake, they'll be right back," she offers, 

"Cousin Clark's back already?" John wonders. "I thought he'd be gone more or less indefinitely with his new...wife…which still feels weird to say honestly."

"Uh...yeah…he'll tell you guys all about it when he gets here," Kara half-giggles nervously. Her children eye her warily, all except Xander who is busy pulling some handwritten notes from his pocket and reviewing them, clearly intent on unloading a great deal of pent-up grievance.

"Okay, so I remember Dad usually does one of his casseroles for this," Allie starts, unloading bags of groceries onto the counter, "but I thought it might be nice to do a heat vision roast as well, and Uncle Elt said he and Papa J'onn are bringing fala roots from Mars, so…"

As she talks, Allie inadvertently tips over one of her parcels, spilling a handful of onions out onto the counter. She looks up at her mother over the kitchen island, who's suddenly a shade of pale green Allie can't quite recall seeing before. 

"Mom? Are you…?" 

"I'm fine, honey," Kara replies. "Just...excuse me for a moment." She darts out of the room as four sets of eyes follow her with curiosity. 

They hear her run down the hall and attempt to open the bathroom door, accidentally ripping the handle off in her haste. 

"Occupied!" cries a voice from inside, causing Kara to speed upstairs in search of another place to relieve herself.

The four adult children and their spouses stare blankly at the spot she's just vacated. 

"What the hell was  _ that _ ?" Xander vocalizes what they're all thinking.

They hear chuckling behind them just then, as the last sons of Krypton and Daxam come through the front door, cake box in hand, jovially discussing outcome of the most recent Garata match, between the Challengers of Earth and the Titans of Rimbor-5. Clark's own eight-times great granddaughter, Lara, currently captains the local team. 

The laughter dies a quick death, however, when they step into the kitchen, cake box in hand, and see everyone staring at them. 

"Uh... what's going on, guys?" Mon-El asks with confusion. 

"You tell  _ us _ , Dad," John folds his hands over his chest and glares back. "Why, for example, does it sound like there's a sudden epidemic of upchucking going on in this household?"

"Oh. That," Mon-El deflates as he places his cargo down next to the fragrant yellow-brown orbs strewn across the countertop. He picks one up and examines it, with no small amount of mirth. "Guess the onions here gave it away…"

"Wait, I thought she was all  _ about _ onions right now?" Clark smirks as he sidles up alongside the Daxamite. 

"Only caramelized. But the smell of raw ones…"

"...Riiiight. Boot City…"

"Okay, can someone please explain what the hell this is all about?" Zora grumbles. "Is Mom sick or something?"

Mon-El tilts his head back and forth. "Uh…let's leave it at 'or something' until she gets back downstairs, huh?"

"She's back," Kara groans, shuffling in while carefully avoiding the area of the room occupied by the offending vegetables that caused her exodus in the first place.

"Mom?" Allie approaches with concern. "Are you...all right?"

Kara's motherly grin spreads across her face like honey. "I'm fine, sweetie, I just...well, we were hoping to wait until everyone else got here, but since you guys already caught me, um…I'm sort of...pregnant."

Everyone is silent for a moment, until Allie turns around to look at her siblings, and they collectively burst out laughing. 

"Yeah, okay, Mom," Xander snorts when he pulls himself together, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. 

"You know, you've developed a really weird sense of humor in your old age," Allie pats her mother perfunctorily on the back and returns to her spot at the kitchen island, where she begins removing other items in preparation for a day of chopping and stirring and baking. 

Kara smiles smugly over at her husband and cousin, who are standing more or less shoulder to shoulder in the entryway, arms crossed, lips pressed together with suppressed mirth. 

"Kids?" Mon-El finally manages. "Just be quiet for a second and listen."

The four Daxatonians all stare at their father with raised eyebrows, but comply. 

"Whoa…" John ventures after a moment. "Someone's heart is beating  _ really _ fast…" He looks over at his mother, approaching her cautiously, with a look of utter confusion plastered across his face, and kneels to listen to her stomach. 

"Holy Rao…" he gasps, awestruck, as his siblings gaze agape at the scene. 

"Morning, Danvers clan…" a voice chirps from behind Mon-El and Clark, who scooch to the side that make way for the new arrivals. 

"What's...all this?" J'onn wonders at the sight of them all, placing his casserole dish down on the counter next to the cake and onion avalanche. 

"Mom's...pregnant…" John monotones, still on his knees next to her, but looking up at his namesake. 

J'onn turns to Eltro with an unreadable look on his face. "This is Day of Truth, not April Fool's, right?" 

Eltro, for his part, bursts into a wide smile and strides forward to give his sister-in-law a massive bear hug over John's head as he awkwardly extracts himself from between them. "That's...beyond amazing, Kara! I'm...I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am for you."

"Thank you, Elt…" Kara smiles back, a little teary-eyed now, "You've been the best Uncle I could have imagined, so I hope you're ready to do it all over again!" 

"Is  _ he _ ready?" Allie scoffs, from the sidelines. "Mom...what the hell…"

"...Whoa…" Zora interrupts. "First...how on Earth did this even  _ happen _ ?" 

"Right…" Mon-El says, scratching the back of his neck. "About that…"

"We'll explain everything, kids, I promise, but can we please get the food going first? You really don't want to keep a couple of superpowered pregnant people waiting for their supper."

The kids look at each other, then back at their mother, with utter shock. 

"A  _ couple _ ?!" they say in unison.

*********

"You're all out of your damn minds!" Allie nearly screeches, as they sit around the dining room table after their meal. "All four of you!"

"Honey…" Kara worries a napkin between her figures and takes a deep breath.

"No! No, look. It's Day of Truth, and guess what? It's truth you're gonna get. And the truth is this is  _ crazy _ . You're too damn old for this!"

"Hey!" Mon-El objects. "I know we're no spring chickens here, but…"

"But nothing!" Zora throws up her hands. "Allie is right, this is insane. Need I remind you that you already have spawned no less than thirteen generations of supers? If you're feeling nostalgic and want to hang out with some little people, there's a whole army of them to choose from. You certainly don't have to make any more of your own. Right, Xan?" She turns to her twin, who hastily finishes swallowing a mouthful of mashed pyloras before answering. 

"I'm sorry…I'm still stuck on the whole teenage sexcapade part of this," he replies. "I really thought we had agreed a few hundred years ago there'd be no more weird dirty shenanigans out of you two."

" _ That's _ what you're getting out of this?" John drawls, leaning back in his chair. 

"I'm just saying, it's not like we've ever had to have a squicky, uncomfortable family meeting to discuss any of  _ our _ sex lives," he shoots his brother a pointed look. 

"Can we just get back to what's important here?" Allie huffs. "What the hell are you all going to  _ do _ ?!"

"Honey, it's not like any of us planned this," Kara defends. "After all, I haven't had to worry about this since…"

"Since the mid 2200s?" Zora finishes. "Yeah, same for me and Allie. But it hardly mattered, we all finished having kids long before then. Like you  _ said _ you had."

"I had, obviously. Look, guys, this happening is a miracle. I never imagined we'd be here again, and yes it's somewhat daunting, but...it's a blessing from Rao. And I was really hoping you all could be excited for us." 

"Mom…you're not in your 30s any more. You're centuries old, and no one in our family has been through this at this stage in our lives. Not to mention unknown magic was involved in creating this child. It's  _ dangerous _ ." Allie's words hang heavily in the air. 

"...I know it is, sweetie."

Mon-El clasps his wife's hand. "But we're going to take every precaution, get our top people to watch her like a hawk. Hell, I'll drag Mxyzptlk back from the 5th dimension myself if I have to, whatever it takes to make sure she and the baby are safe and healthy."

"And I'm retiring," Kara says with a nod. "We both are." 

They all stare at her, mouths hanging open. "Well  _ that's _ good news anyway," Xander blurts out. 

"Hey!" Clark snaps. "This is your  _ brother _ . Why aren't you all happy about this?"

"Because we can't lose our  _ mother _ !" Allie squeaks, tears forming in her eyes. She reaches to grab Kara's unattended hand, grasping it with her superhuman strength. "Look, Mom, I know we had a whole thing about wanting it to be our turn to take the reins, but...we still  _ need _ you."

Touched, Kara drops Allie's hand and reaches over to put her arm around her first born. "You're not going to lose me, honey," she reassures. "You're stuck with me for another couple hundred years. I mean I've survived the lot of  _ you _ , after all."

"Not to mention a few hundred evildoers who've tried to kill you," Mon-El notes with a shrug. 

"Okay, don't get me started on  _ you _ ," Zora wags a finger at her father. "You're the one that got her  _ into _ this mess." 

"Me?!" the Daxamite balks. "I didn't...she was...we were both…"

"Oh, give it a rest, Dad. We all know the teenage bonefest wasn't Mom's idea," Xander rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back in his seat. 

"Okay, enough," John says, rubbing his temples. "Mom, Dad, we really are happy for you. And we'll all be here to support you.  _ Won't _ we, guys?"

His siblings, sighing, nod their agreement. 

"Cool," Xander interweaves his fingers and stretches his hands forward, knuckles cracking loudly. "Now that that's settled, can we go back to the truth telling stuff now? Because I've got some things to say." He pulls out the crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket and clears his throat. "Okay, number one: Dad, about your old man ears…"

"Can someone pass the pyloras over here?" Kara groans, settling back in her chair. "I think me and the baby are gonna need some comfort food for this…"

********

When the (slightly) younger folk leave, Kara, Mon-El, J'onn, Eltro, Clark and Bev sit out on the deck watching the yellow sun go down, the men all downing beers while the two expectant mothers settle for lemonade.

"So," J'onn elbows Mon-El. "Are you ready for this?"

"I think so," the Daxamite shrugs. "I do have a tiny bit of experience raising children, though I might be a smidge rusty."

"Well, I may need a bit of umpiring," Bev says. "Being a novice and all."

"I think you mean coaching, sweetheart," Clark corrects. 

"Yes, that's what I said," she smiles sweetly.

Kara begins to crack up at this. "You Daxamites really do the whole fish-out-of-water thing right."

"Wow…" Mon-El muses. "I just realized this is the first time there have been three Daxamites together on Earth since…" 

"...Since dear old Mom and Dad were here?" Eltro finishes.

"Uh...yeah, actually. Sorry, shouldn't have…" 

"Nah, it's fine. You're the ones that had to suffer through everything they did back then."

Mon-El nods solemnly. "You know, it's strange to think...if none of that had happened, we all wouldn't be standing her right now, would we?" 

"I suppose not," his brother concedes.

"Well, considering how everything turned out, and not just for us, I mean…how many times have we saved the world? The multiverse?"

"I've lost count," Kara shrugs. 

"And now…our new blessings. They'll be part of all that. So I guess...our parents, even in their awfulness, ended up playing a part in making this world possible."

"Don't forget Lex Luthor," Kara drawls. 

"Who?" Bev wonders. 

"A deeply disturbed man who wanted to exterminate our race," Clark explains. 

"But his son married my daughter Allie, and because of that, thousands of our children are also, ironically, his descendants." 

"I hope he's burning in hell just  _ seething _ about it," Clark grumbles. 

"Kal!" Kara mock-gasps. "That may be the unkindest thing I've ever heard you say about anyone!"

"Do you disagree?"

"Not really," Kara concedes. 

J'onn raises his glass. "I propose a toast. To always finding the good, even in the worst of mankind. To being a light in the dark wherever we can. And to all the future generations yet to be...may the legacy of Krypton, and Daxam, and Earth...be one of peace."

"From your mouth to Rao's ears," Kara says.

"Wait...does Rao  _ have _ ears?" Clark wonders. "I've always been a little unclear." 

"You've been unclear about our  _ God _ ?" Kara startles slightly, taken aback.

"Uh, you've been unclear about me being  _ Methodist _ ?"

Kara rolls her eyes. "Well, either way, I think Rao meant for all of us to be here. Together."

"And for that, we can all be thankful," Clark agrees. 

"By the way," Kara sighs, moving into her husband's lap, clasping his hand, and smiling at him with five hundred years' worth of love in her heart. "Speaking of peace, and Rao, actually...Mon-El and I have already decided on a name for the baby…"

She chuckles to herself at the upturned faces of her oldest family members, all looking at her with bated breath. "It's a little outside the box, but I think you're going to like it a lot."

THE END.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this will probably be the last story of mine chronologically. I like the idea of leaving them looking forward to retirement and spending their time starting anew with their young son.


End file.
